Agartala, Sep. 1 (PTI): Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev on Wednesday, claimed that as the ruling BJP had not lived up to promises made while the Left Front had weakened with time, her party would get a readymade platform to expand in the state.
Dev, former President of All India Mahila Congress joined TMC recently and came here on Wednesday from Silchar in neighbouring Assam to bolster the party's organization.
When I came to Tripura on behalf of Congress in 2018, BJP had made many poll-promises to the people. However, the saffron party never fulfilled those promises. This has created a readymade platform for the TMC (to expand here), she told the media here. She added that the Left front which had ruled the state earlier has become inactive while the Congress doesn't even have a committee for all the booths. The daughter of former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev also asserted BJP would not be able to retain power in the next assembly polls. Dev said she along with other party workers would work hard to strengthen the Trinamool Congress organisation at the grassroots over the next few months.
Soon after joining the Mamata Banerjee-led party, Dev, a former Lok Sabha MP, had launched a massive membership drive for TMC in Silchar.
Meanwhile, two other TMC leaders from West Bengal- Bratya Basu and Pratima Mandal, MP - also arrived in the state on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media, Basu said, It is fine if BJP doesn't accept us as opposition, then why are they attacking our party workers? Why are they creating pressure on TMC activists? Why are they so afraid of us? Mandal said that people in Tripura were ready to form a TMC government and get benefits of the West Bengal Government's development model. She said the TMC was hopeful of victory in the next assembly polls slated for early 2023.
Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) leader Jaya Dutta and some other youth leaders of the party are also camping in Tripura, indicating the seriousness the party is attaching to its Tripura unit.